Statement from the CPI(ML) on the ongoing atrocities in West Bengal.
From: Amrit Wilson <wilson...@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Lalgarh, another Chhattisgarh in the making?
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Date: Monday, 22 June, 2009, 3:49 PM
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End Paramilitary Operation in Lalgarh
New Delhi, June 22, 2009
The ongoing paramilitary offensive on people in Lalgarh, West Bengal, jointly sponsored by the West Bengal State Government and Union Home Ministry, is an assault on democracy.
There are disturbing reports that the paramilitary forces are forcing local adivasi youth under duress to locate mines and explosives – under threat that they will be arrested as ‘Maoists’ if they refuse. There are also reports of mass displacement of tribals who are fleeing from the paramilitary.
The Lalgarh movement is a remarkable instance of mass resistance to state repression – and punishment for police officials who harassed and tortured innocent tribals in the name of anti-Maoist combing operations continues to be the main demand of the people’s Committee Against Police Atrocities. The State Government, in spite of several months of people’s struggles, has stubbornly and arrogantly refused to meet this demand. The ongoing paramilitary operation and coercion of tribal youth can only intensify the popular resentment against state repression.
The Union Home Minister has claimed that the government has no intention of doing war on its own people. However, he has instructed intellectuals and civil society representatives not to visit Lalgarh, so as to avoid ‘distracting’ the paramilitary forces. If indeed the paramilitary operation is no ‘war on people,’ why should the Government fear public scrutiny? Indeed, the Home Minister’s own statement exposes the truth: that what is happening in Lalgarh is a brutally repressive war on the adivasis, and this must be conducted away from the scrutiny of civil society.
In fact, Lalgarh is just the latest instance of the declared policy of governments of all hues in India – to crackdown on every instance of people’s resistance under the garb of combating ‘Maoism’ or ‘terrorism’.
The West Bengal State Government and the Central Government must immediately stop the abhorrent paramilitary offensive and initiate unconditional talks with the leaders of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities. As a priority, the Governments must take steps to meet the long-pending and just demands of Lalgarh’s people – mainly that of punishment for police officials guilty of state terror.
Prabhat Kumar, |
Central Office,
CPI(ML)
|
